Framed
by ChibiGlowKitteh
Summary: Grell has been framed for massive murders of important humans around London, but pleads he didn't do it. Investigations are in line, and all pin-point to Grell, but he still claims innocence... Who will William believe, his loving subordinate, or some lowly investiagtion? Three-shot
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"_Will! You have to listen to me! I'm innocent! It wasn't me this time! Will- for once in your life, would you just listen to me… PLEASE!" Grell pleaded and thrashed as he was dragged down the hall, struggling the entire way. The cold eyes simply stared at the pathetic redhead as the taller reaper looked down upon Grell who was being held much below his usual height do to being dragged across the floor. Grell winced as the two Shinigami Officers tightened their grip around his wrists and upper arm from his immense struggling,_

"_Grell Sutcliff, you have committed crimes beyond unacceptable. Unfortunately for you, offences like these will not go unpunished. Your hearing will be in three days," William growled as he followed slightly behind,_

"_You have no proof!"_

"_Sutcliff! No one else in the entire dispatch, nor anyone in the human realm could cause that amount of damage without your death scythe- the wounds are precisely from that of a chainsaw blade. Now be quiet or you'll just cause yourself more trouble," William glared at the younger, but wished he hadn't. He couldn't keep back the slight guilt as Grell's tearful eyes stared back with what William could only explain as the most betrayed, hurt expression he had ever seen as the silent, drooping shinigami was dragged from the building._

With a panicked yelp Grell bolted into a seated position on the uncomfortable cot, hands tugging at his crimson tresses. Another nightmare…

Willing his breath to calm, he stared around the dreary cell with a sigh, outside at the hallways blocked by the metal barred front wall. He hated it, the fact he was ridiculed every day with something he didn't even do- terrified of the punishment he would receive at his hearing for simple innocence. But what also puzzled him was the fact of the murders and how they were committed:

Grell had been framed for the murders of important humans in London, ones who were not even close to being on the 'To Die' list, and even then would have been erased right away due to their importance, and not only that, but as soon as he had been placed in confinement, the murders stopped, leading everyone to nearly hold no belief in Grell's innocence. He had no idea who was doing it, how to prove he was innocent… He sighed bitterly, resting his chin to his knees that were pulled against his chest and closing his eyes. There was_ nothing _he could do except wait and hope that some miracle happened to show it wasn't him. He jumped and glanced up as the barred door opened, two guards and an officer looking at Grell expectantly for him to get off the cot and over to them. Hesitantly he slipped off the thin mattress and into his heels before silently heading over.

"Mr. Spears would like to have a word with you," The blonde officer explained simply, his voice a void of cold hatred towards Grell, the redhead put up no hassle as shackles were locked around his wrists, dull eyes simply staring ahead at the floor as he was lead down the hall. It was as if he'd given up, knowing fate had him clasped in its iron fist and wasn't losing its grip at all. Being roughly shoved into one of the small, plain white questioning rooms, he sat silently in one of the chairs at the table. The door locking behind him and quiet footsteps of William approaching behind him was deafening, his heart pounded in his ears, his breath quickening slightly,

"Will…."

"Don't bother trying with a cover story, Sutcliff," The older reaper muttered coldly as he took to occupying the other seat across the table from Grell, "This is honestly beyond anything I've ever seen from you- _from anyone _in the dispatch, Sutcliff. What do you have to say for yourself?" Grell shrank back as he met William's eyes, staring at him with more anger and disappointment he'd seen from William in his entire time at the dispatch.

"Will, please, you have to listen to me! I'm innocent! What is it going to take for you to listen and believe me?!" Grell's voice trembled,

"Nothing, Sutcliff, you've shown us enough to know,"

"Please-"

"_Grell Sutcliff_! You are a _disgrace _to the shinigami name with these actions! You disgust _everyone _around you; I can't even begin to explain how disappointed I am in you… Disappointment doesn't come even close to it." William growled, giving Grell a glare that made him shrink back in the chair even more. Right now he wanted the ground to open beneath his feet and let him fall through,

"And Will, I can't even begin to explain how scared I am…" The trembling in Grell's voice was growing more and more apparent as he fought back tears, "Let me prove it to you, I'll do anything, please! It's _not _me!" Chains clanked as Grell's shaking hands clung to the table in a white-knuckled grip.

"There is nothing you can say or do you prove your innocence, investigations pinpoint _exactly _to you… Chainsaw wounds, no traces of anything else except the blood- only a reaper is capable of these actions, no human would be able to leave no evidence, and the soul is not even close to being disturbed, so no demons are involved either."

Grell slowly closed his eyes, obviously William would never believe him,

"And it seems your scythe has _mysteriously _disappeared… to avoid us checking the cinematic records, I take it?"

"My scythe is… it's gone?!" Grell's eyes widened, whoever his framer was had thought this out extremely well… they knew who they were dealing with, and it scared him.

"Well with that reaction there's a sliver of doubt…" William remarked, referring to Grell's rather loud screech and horrified expression.

"See?! How can I prove it to you, Will? Take me on an investigation or something, I'll prove it! I swear!" Grell rambled, William sighed, rubbing at his temples from the headache that was beginning to blossom behind his eyes.

"Obviously you're not going to keep your mouth shut until we give you some sort of chance… but you do know if you try _anything _your punishment will be upped," Grell nodded solemnly,

"And if I can't prove anything?"

"You're still convicted and will be proven guilty, followed by whatever punishment you've been sentenced to."

"Very well… I won't try anything though, I promise." Grell replied. William sighed,

"I still can't believe I'm doing this…"

"You can trust me, Will, please, don't go back on your word!"

William didn't know if it was the urgency in the other's voice, or his pleading, frightened eyes, but it was something that panged deep within him with a small amount of sympathy for Grell,

"Two hours tonight to look around London, that's it. Be ready at midnight…" William replied impatiently, the huge sigh of relief from the redhead was the only sound in the room as the others returned. William stood with one last glance to the bound reaper before turning to the officer,

"Whitlock, plan one last investigation tonight for midnight; Sutcliff claims he'll be able to prove his innocence,"

"…" Jason Whitlock glanced up at William with green eyes that seemed to be looking at the other to double check he wasn't insane, "Uhm… sure thing Mr. Spears," He stepped aside with a polite nod before glancing at Grell,

"Looks like you got lucky…" Jason muttered. Grell submissively stood as he was roughly manhandled, not bothering to fight back or argue. Normally he would fight back over how the men were handling a lady, but right now he didn't care, all he felt was numbness. He was only thinking about tonight, and how he was going to prove himself innocent. He had spoken without thinking, and now had no idea what he was going to do. He rubbed at his chaffed wrists as his bonds were removed and stepped into the now familiar cell.

"Good luck for tonight," The second guard was last to leave as he spat his words sarcastically to Grell, eyes burning with disgust as Grell stared boldly back. He then settled to the cot once more, staring at the clock and sighing as the entire day needed to pass by before midnight.

Now all he could do was sit and wait- and it would be one of the longest, most frightening waits of his entire life.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Sutcliff… Sutcliff… Sutcliff!"

"Hn?!" Grell shook himself from daydreaming and managed to find the source of the shouts being William and Jason standing in front of his cell. "… Is it time already?" He asked, in which the two responded with a nod. He was glad he could move freely this time with no chains or guards restraining him as he walked with the others down the hall,

"Don't. Try. Anything. It'll only get you in bigger trouble if you do," William warned quietly in Grell's ear as they were swept through the portal.

"I won't, I promise," Grell whispered back before glancing to William, "Thank you, for letting me do this…" He murmured.

Staring into the other reaper's eyes, William was slightly worried to see the usual happy, bright, full-of-life look Grell's emerald eyes usually held had dimmed to a dull, lifeless, lonely fog. Could Grell really be innocent and this was turning him to a nervous wreck? William shook himself from the thought and looked quickly away.

Rooftops were leapt upon as the trio flew through London, each on a lookout for something, anything that might help in Grell's case. Though after an hour of nothing, Grell stomach was slowly sinking lower,

"I-I don't think anything's going to happen…" He whimpered. William glanced to the redhead,

"Stop it, we still have an hour left, we might find something." He snapped,

"… sorry," Grell muttered, wondering why he should be apologizing when William was the one that gave him such a short time limit to find something. The whole night would have been better, but Grell would have to take what he could get… Jason then paused, skidding to a halt upon a tall apartment roof,

"There hasn't been any people of importance wandering around lately, that's probably why there hasn't been a death lately…"  
"Now you tell us this?! That gets rid of one of the pointers towards me!" Grell snarled, glaring at the younger who raised his hands in defence,

"Sutcliff, calm down, Whitlock had no access to the list until today, we've already cleaned that up in your report," The redhead gave a small sigh of relief, that at least lifted the tension _somewhat_.

"Did you ever find my death scythe?" He asked quietly, Jason shook his head,

"Not even close…" Grell gave another sigh, this one of an upset air this time. He didn't even know what had happened to it… Though they all halted when Jason flung out an arm, bringing everyone to a skidding stop,

"There's supposed to be a higher up in the monarchy wandering around here… how careless, knowing your of high status and walking by yourself out at night," He muttered, shaking his head. Grell's fingers crossed behind his back, hoping someone would attack. It was then the whistling became apparent and all three's attention snapped to the raven-haired man that strolled down the darkened street,

"Tristan Finch…" Jason muttered, Grell watched intently,

_Please… please… plea-_

"Smell that?" Jason suddenly asked, it only took one whiff of the disgusting scent for William to know,

"Demon," William growled, eyes narrowing and flitting back and forth to find the filthy creature.

"But why would a demon be around here?" Grell muttered, normally demons didn't bother with souls unless making a contract with the dying,  
"Obviously it's after a living soul," William replied in monotone. The three suddenly froze though as a familiar roaring reached their ears and Grell's angered gasp,

"That bastard has my death scythe! How _dare _he!" The redhead snarled, preparing to leap free of the building's roof and slaughter the demon for touching his precious death scythe disguised as the fashionable chainsaw.

"Slow down, Sutcliff," William's hand closed on the collar of Grell's coat and dragged him back to the small 'hideout'.

"Let me g-"

"Gentlemen!" Jason's shout drew the two nattering reapers from the argument as the demon stalked from the shadows to meet a cowering Mr. Finch.

"Ah, Tristan Finch, it appears you've managed to catch yourself in _quite _the predicament," The demon purred, the forked black tongue running hungrily over sharp, white fangs that glinted dangerously in the moonlight,

"A-And who are you?" Tristan trembled, backing up many steps from the demon,

"Oh, just a starving… _friend_ that wants you to suffer a quick, painless death before soothing their own pain," The demon patted his stomach, signalling his lack of souls to feed from, "And I find souls like yours most delectable… The monarchies always live in such luxuries, meaning a luxurious soul too," With that, the demon leapt towards Tristan with a feral like snarl, eyes flashing the demonic pink and red. With a scream Tristan was knocked to the ground, blocked from scrambling away by the demon's foot on his chest, pinning him to the cold cobblestone.

"And this toy looks like it will make a soul _so _much easier to devour! Before it was just fun to give a quick death, your little squeals and cowering are most entertaining… but I've been feeling rather hungry lately, I think I'll put it to use…"

"So it was a demon…" William murmured, "How on earth did it manage to get a hold of you scythe…?" With another maniacal laugh from the demon, the chainsaw was driven deep into Finch's chest, though before the demon could soothe his hunger, a loud cry from above him caused him to look up- only to be knocked down with a flying red blur that was complaining a mile a minute,

"How dare you touch my scythe, give it back! I'll have you know the trouble you've-" Grell gave a yelp as the demon's foot connected with his chest and his fist connected sharply with Grell's jaw, throwing him a small ways away with a painful _thump_ against the wall. William then appeared behind the demon, followed by Jason as a foot moved downwards on the demon's throat, drawing a small croak from the vile creature,

"Get off me!" The reaper's foot was nearly hacked off by the noisy scythe as William leapt back, allowing the demon to quickly roll and stand up,

"Grell Sutcliff, look at-" He paused to dodge the screeching chainsaw again, "What you've done in your foolishness!" He snapped to Grell who was about to leap in, "Stay out of the fight! Without your scythe you're useless!"

"Just get it away from him and _then _we'll worry about Grell's screw ups!" Jason shouted, suddenly swinging a leg and aiming for the demon's head- they had to get him from behind when it was unexpected and get the scythe away from him.

"Tch, you reapers just don't learn, do you?" The demon clicked his tongue, swinging around once more and cackling as Jason quickly ducked and flung himself out of the way,

"Jason! Get back to the realm and get some help!" William snapped, knowing this battle would need more than three reapers- one being scythe-less. Another laugh made itself clear from the demon's throat as the chain sped up to full speed, William then finally cleared his racing mind to summon his own scythe, swinging it around with a sharp metallic clang against the chainsaw.

"Think again that you're going to destroy any of us, demon," William glared,

"Ooh, I'm shaking in my boots!" The demon mocked, flicking his wrist and twisting the scythe around to the bottom of William's. It was obvious this demon did well in fighting, and seemed to know almost exactly what move the other was going to pull.

"Stubborn thing, aren't you? But it's against my nature to back down!"

"Hardly, you'll either be backing down or dead by the end of this battle," William sighed, repeatedly blocking swing after swing. Though he gasped as a sudden hit managed to twist his scythe in a baton like motion, and William was forced to either let go, or end up with a broken wrist. His scythe clattered to the ground a ways away. William braced himself as the scythe was plunged towards his chest, preparing to leap away- though he had a bad feeling he wouldn't make it at the speed the blade was swinging.

Blood spattered everywhere, and William's eyes shut tightly, awaiting the agonizing pain… but nothing came. Instead the chainsaw stopped screaming, a loud clatter, and footsteps retreating followed by a whimper of pain- Grell's. William's eyes snapped open to spot Grell sprawled on the ground, his now bloodied chainsaw thrown carelessly beside him, and his hand held tightly to his stomach where a ragged gash was torn across his stomach.

"Grell!" The reaper's first name was out of William's mouth before he could think, but he could care less at that moment as he dropped to his knees beside the fallen redhead. Grell's emerald eyes weakly opened and he gave William a pained smile,

"Y-You're okay… I m-made it in time,"

"What were you thinking, Grell?!" William demanded,

"Well… I was s-supposed to die if t-this didn't happen a-anyways… right? S-So it's no loss," Grell moved a hand to weakly grip William's, but the reaper was too stunned to do anything except sit there. William couldn't believe it, but he could actually feel the salty burn of tears stabbing behind his eyes as he watched his subordinate dying in front of his eyes.

"Grell, don't say that, you're going to be fine!" William struggled to keep himself calm, preparing to pick up Grell and get him back to headquarters.

"I-It's okay, Will… I won't be of n-nuisance to y-you any l-longer. B-But I have to say it one l-last time Will, after t-the thousand other t-times I've t-told you… I l-love y-you…"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The cemetery was dreary with fog and a misting of rain as the small crowd of reapers drifted away, leaving William to himself as one hand clenched itself in a fist. He stared at the red reaper lying inside the coffin, that small, peaceful smile still visible on his face. His other hand slowly moved from resting on the side of the cherry wood coffin to stroke a pale cheek.

"Grell… I'm so sorry…" He murmured; the tears he never thought existed for Grell once more returning as they slowly rolled down the raven-haired man's cheeks. "For everything, accusing you, not believing you, and now this… But I know you wouldn't want me to be so upset about it, so I'm going to try not to…" His cold attitude was completely lost in his void of emotions. Had he known Grell cared for him so much to risk his life for William, he perhaps wouldn't have been so cold and cruel to the other. He'd always worried he wasn't good enough for Grell, and would only make him unhappy, so he pushed him away in hopes of the redhead finding someone better. Now he'd never be able to see Grell again, reveal his true feelings for the red reaper; to hug him, kiss him, to tell him he loved him like he'd always wanted. A gentle hand on his shoulder caused him to quickly wipe away his tears quickly and retain his cold attitude that he always held. He looked up to meet an uncharacteristic frown on Undertaker's face as he nodded,

"It's time to go…" The mortician's voice was painfully strained, and William could tell the legendary reaper was holding back his own tears as well- he knew how much Undertaker had cared for Grell. With that, the coffin lid was shut, sealing away all William's memories of Grell as it was lowered into the ground, and burying William's emotions with it.

* * *

"Mr. Spears… Mr. Spears? Mr. Spears!" Viridian eyes snapped open as a finger prodded William's shoulder, he glanced over to spot Jason, who was jabbing him. Alan, Eric, Ronald, and Undertaker were also there, all staring at William (well, he couldn't really tell with Undertaker) with what seemed like worry,

"Was… Was I asleep?" William's fuzzy vision cleared the rest of the way allowing him to see he had slumped back in the chair and most likely dozed off. He cleared his throat rather awkwardly and tapped his glasses up the bridge of his nose before sitting up in the chair.

"Yeah, we have no idea how in that uncomfortable hospital chair, but you were mumbling nonsense and we wondered if you were okay," Alan answered for Jason as the group seemed to shift closer, William scooted back in the chair away from them,

"And how is Sutcliff doing?"

"Spears, really, jus' start calling him Grell already, we all know y' want ta'…" Eric called gruffly from his spot leaning against the dreary hospital wall,

"He's asleep, but I'm sure you can wake him," Alan replied with a small nod,

"_Gently _wake him," Undertaker threw in, knowing how rough William was with the redhead.

"You've already been to see him?" William asked. How long had he been out for?

"You're the last to check in on him, since you were out cold, but we'll leave you two _alone_," Ronald teased, taking a step back at the glare he received.

"Very well, if it means you'll all shut up," William sighed, pushing himself up from the rather uncomfortable armchair, he really did wonder how he'd slept in that, but he'd been up the entire day and night, which explained it well. Stepping into the pale blue hospital room that held nothing but a bed, the computer tracking Grell's heart rate, and the catheter stand, he easily spotted the crimson form on the bed as he quietly shut the door behind him. He slowly approached Grell's sleeping figure as his features softened, guilt setting in once more at Grell's peaceful expression and lightly fluttering eyelids.

"Grell… wake up," William called softly, not wanting to scare him,

"W-Will…?" The redhead weakly called, raising his head to look for his boss. His eyes lit up when he spotted him, "You're h-here," William awkwardly took a seat on the brown wing chair by the bedside,

"Yes," He nodded, "I wanted to see how you were doing. How are you feeling?" Grell's hand moved to rest on his stomach where the now stitched and bandaged wound was.  
"It hurts… a lot… but I'm okay," Grell replied, before turning curious emerald eyes to William, "A-Am I off the hook?"

"Obviously," William replied, seeing the tense body immediately relax.

"How on earth did he get a hold of my scythe?" Grell asked, stunned at how on earth a demon had managed to get even close to the realm,

"It turns out there was a weakness in the portal, leaving it accessible to demons. But it's been fixed, and your chainsaw has been returned," Grell managed to give a small smile before taking a breath, as if debating to say something else,

"And… and…" Grell trailed off,

"What?" William asked,

"W-Why are you here… why do you care so much?" Grell asked dully. His eyes widened in surprise as his chin was tilted up to meet William's gaze, emeralds locked with emeralds before William removed his hand, leaving Grell to stare into William's eyes with a soft blush,

"Yesterday when you leapt in front of that demon and chainsaw… when you thought you were going to die and told me you loved me..." Now it was William's turn to trail off,

"Yes?" Grell asked, tilting his head slightly while gazing up at William, the superior was distracted for a moment by the rather adorable redhead, but he shook himself from staring.

"I think I've made you wait long enough to say it, Grell," He saw the smaller shinigami's eyes widen at the use of his first name, "I love you too…" Tears of happiness immediately poured down Grell's cheeks as he shifted, wanting to fling his arms around William, though whimpered in disappointment as he was gently pushed back down against the bed,

"Don't disturb your wound," William instructed gently,

"D-Do you r-really mean it?" Grell stammered as his tears were wiped away by William's handkerchief,

"Well, that would just ruin my reputation if I lied now, wouldn't it?" William teased, but was suddenly yanked forward by his tie and his lips slammed into Grell's. He put up no struggle though and smiled against Grell's lips, whose eyes had quickly drifted closed. After a long few moments, the two parted, and Grell's smile was unlike any other, to put William in a good mood for how worried he had been. Grell then gave a vixen-like smirk, fangs glimmering in the bright white light of the dull room, though the redhead continue to grin, not bothered at all by how boring the hospital really was,

"And now, we just have to wait until I'm better for me to show you how good of a lover I really am~"

"Is that an offer?" William raised a teasing eyebrow

"If you'll take it~!"  
"Do you really need to ask?"

"Didn't think so,"

**Raise of hands if you hate me now for tricking you in that first scene?!**

**This story was actually quite fun to write, and I hope you guys enjoyed this little 3-shot! Make sure to leave a review and vent all you like! Thank you everyone who took their time to read this story and I hope you enjoyed it! There will be more Grelliam coming soon! See you at the next story, my lovelies~!**

**-Glow-**


End file.
